Community College and Career Training

Depending on your career goals, educational level, college budget, and personal responsibilities, a community college or career school may be suiting your needs even better than any 4-year college would do.

If you’re not sure in what way these types of schools differ, read on, and you’ll understand. A community college (also referred to as junior college, city college, or technical college) is typically offering 2-year college degree courses and programs in some majors. On top of these 2-year degrees (called associate’s degrees), some community colleges are also offering vocational training and professional certificates.

Career Training Schools, on the other hand, generally only offer job training and certificate programs. These schools are also referred to as trade schools or vocational schools, as they provide specialized training courses for specific occupations or careers.

Students are choosing community colleges and career school for a number of reasons, both professional and personal and vocational. Community colleges or career training schools may be just what you want. For example, if you’re looking to learn specialized job skills or if you think about a transfer to 4-year colleges after you’ve earned your associate’s degree. Maybe you want to explore career options and majors while deciding on what you’d like to do.

Affordability of Career Education & Community College

Earning your associate’s degree, or completing a good job training program, has many advantages, and if you’re looking for an affordable college experience, you couldn’t do much better than attending a school of this type. Tuition for a community college is usually much cheaper than the tuition fees you’d have to pay at a 4-year university, and there are many ways to get financial support to pay for school. Many community colleges additionally provide significant degree programs online, which will ensure additional savings both in money and time.

Regardless whether you want to earn a certificate, an associate’s degree or a bachelor’s degree, community colleges and career training schools offer many and affordable ways to make your first steps toward a great career. Transferring from a 2-year school to a 4-year college or university is very easily done, and a great economical option as well.

Community College & Career Education Program Flexibility

Community Colleges, as well as Career Training Schools, are offering students lots of flexibility, both when it comes to the available majors and whether you wish to attend school part-time or full-time. While most 4-year colleges and universities require their students to attend the programs on full time (though we also can see some changes here), are most community colleges welcoming part-time students. For even more flexibility and comfort, community colleges and career school students may find a lot of online courses or at different schools. Plus, you’ll often see that these schools are located close to your home, which makes them very convenient if you want to save on commuting costs or wish to live at home.

Enhance Your Academics at Community College

When you’re not enthusiastic about your high school grades, bear in mind that usually, admission requirements for a community college or career training school are lower and that many are not requiring standardized test scores (like SAT or ACT) for their acceptance procedures. You may complete an associate’s degree at a community college and start a career, or use your degree when you want to transfer to a 4-year university or college to earn a bachelor’s degree and possibly more. Many students at community colleges later go on to a 4-year school to earn a higher degree. But make sure to get those higher grades. If you’ll maintain a GPA of 3.0 or even higher while you’re working towards an associate’s degree, you’ll have far better chances to be able to transfer to your favored four-year college or university.